Even nowadays where medical technology has rapidly developed, cancer is a type of disease which has not been completely conquered. Many people are still diagnosed with cancer and die of cancer or complications associated therewith.
Cisplatin is known as a chemotherapy drug very effective in treating a variety of cancers, including lung cancer, breast cancer, bladder cancer, stomach cancer, cervical cancer, or myelomatosis. Cisplatin, which is a heavy metal compound containing a central atom of platinum surrounded by two chlorine atoms and two ammonia molecules in the cis-position, forms an interstrand crosslink between two adjacent guanines on DNA strands, to inhibit DNA synthesis. Cisplatin is attached to a double-strand DNA structure which is present in nuclei of cancer cells, to inhibit DNA replication, suppress the growth and proliferation of cancer cells, and eliminate cancer cells, thereby having an anticancer effect. However, cisplatin resistance causes clinical problems in the treatment of cancers. Therefore, demands for a novel anticancer agent and cancer treatment method, which can replace cisplatin, are on the rise.
Particularly, head and neck cancer, which starts in tissue, such as nasal cavity, pharynx, larynx, salivary gland, thyroid, or the like, accounts for about 5% of malignancies in incidence worldwide. The incidence of head and neck cancer gradually increases worldwide, and for the treatment of head and neck cancer, cisplatin, which is the strongest anticancer agent among anticancer agents currently used in clinical practice, is used. Accordingly, a novel anticancer agent that can replace cisplatin is highly required.
Also, in the case of cancers, a process for eliminating tumors through an operation is very complicate and also causes much physical damage on patients.
Thus, there are demands for a novel method for treating a cancer which can simply replace a surgical method and resolve a resistance issue to previous anticancer agents. However, there are not many reports on a novel therapeutic agent and method which can resolve all these issues.